The top 10 wackiest anti-refugee remarks

Czech President Miloš Zeman says Muslim refugees won’t respect local laws and mores. Instead, he warned, they would seek to implement sharia law.

“We’ll be deprived of women’s beauty, because they’ll be covered from head to toe … unfaithful women will be stoned and thieves will have their hands cut off,” Zeman said. Women covering their face “would mean an improvement” for some, he said, “but there are few of them and I cannot see any such here.”

The comments were broadly condemned — by Czech politicians, NGOs and Prague’s Muslim community. A spokesperson from the Czech embassy in Brussels declined to comment, other than to say the Czech government supports European efforts to stem the crisis.

But Zeman is one of many European politicians whose description of asylum-seekers has sparked controversy in recent months. Georgina Siklossy from the European Network Against Racism said such “toxic statements” fuel xenophobia and Islamophobia. The group has compiled a map of racist discourse and violence in the EU in the past year.

Here’s a look at the top 10 most head-turning remarks:

1. Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front: “Slaves”

The head of France’s far-right National Front party Marine Le Pen. Pic DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty

“Germany probably thinks its population is moribund, and it is probably seeking to lower wages and continue to recruit slaves through mass immigration,” Marine Le Pen told a meeting of supporters in Marseille.

She also compared the unprecedented influx of migrants to the “barbarian invasion” of the fourth century.

2. Robert Ménard, mayor of Béziers: “Not welcome”

Beziers Mayor Robert Menard. Pic JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

“You’re not welcome,” he told asylum-seekers who had occupied apartments in the French town. “Only people who behave correctly are welcome.”

3. Jarosław Kaczyński, former Polish prime minister and leader of the Law and Justice party: Bringing “parasites and protozoa”

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Law and Justice party. Pic WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP/Getty Images

At a rally this month he said migrants have brought diseases like cholera and dysentery to Europe, as well as “all sorts of parasites and protozoa, which … while not dangerous in the organisms of these people, could be dangerous here.”

4. David Cameron, British prime minister: “Swarm”

British Prime Minister David Cameron. Pic EPA

On the migrant crisis in Calais, he spoke of “a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain.”

7. Matteo Salvini, Italian Northern League: “TB and scabies”

“TB and scabies do not come from Finland. Unfortunately with a backward health system in North Africa these people reported illnesses that we had defeated for years.”

8. Andrzej Duda, Polish president: “Possible epidemics”

Polish President Andrzej Duda. Pic EPA

“The security of citizens is the most important question,” Duda told Poland’s TVN24, “financial and physical security as much as health.” He said accepting migrants brought with it the risk of “possible epidemics.”

9. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán: “Christian Europe”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Pic EPP / Flickr

“We shouldn’t forget that the people who are coming here grew up in a different religion and represent a completely different culture. Most are not Christian, but Muslim,” he wrote in an op-ed. “Or is it not worrying that Europe’s Christian culture is already barely able to maintain its own set of Christian values?”

10. Nadine Morano, France’s opposition Les Républicains: “White race”

Nadine Morano, MEP and member of the French party Les Républicains. Pic VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images

In a television appearance, Morano said: “We’re a Judeo-Christian country of white race.”

Phil van der Wel

You missed Dutch liberal Halbe Zijlstra(Algemeen Dagblad October 10), chairman of VVD faction in parliament: refugees come to the Netherlands for breast and eyelid corrections. This must stop!

Posted on 10/19/15 | 7:49 PM CET

Thucydides

Perhaps the writer of this article prefers the quiet politeness of the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states regarding this issue.

Posted on 10/19/15 | 9:04 PM CET

ExLiberal

The Politico scribbler labels as “wacky” any comment he disagrees with.
Typical of the close minded hive at Politico.

Posted on 10/19/15 | 10:30 PM CET

Jiri

Rather than wacky, the remarks ring absolutely true, given the fact there are no-go zones in some French or Swedish cities with a massive rise in crime rates. The vast majority of ordinary people do not want them in their home countries and I cannot understand how Mrs Merkel and Co. dare invite those known as invaders by many of us to our homes. At least, the politicians mentioned in this article truly represent their voters and, unlike Mrs Merkel and Co., they do not invite millions of economic immigrants, inaptly called “refugees”, much against the will of the majority of their citizens.

Posted on 10/20/15 | 10:33 AM CET

Louis

All these politicians are a disgrace and ridiculous. People’s fears about migration are completely unfounded. Most of the refugee from Syria are in Turkey, Lebanon or Jordan NOT the European Union. Furthermore even if all 4m+ Syrian refugees arrived into the EU (which will not happen) they would still represent a drop in the ocean for a population of 500m inhabitants. Not to mention that if that was the case the proportion of Muslims living in EU would only rise from 4% to 5% so far from the ‘cultural invasion’ argued by many… Like it or not, Europe needs migration due to our demography (https://youngeuropeansnetwork.wordpress.com/2015/08/19/why-europe-needs-migration/). Our national gvts and the media should therefore do more to make people realise the benefits of migration.

Posted on 10/20/15 | 10:39 AM CET

jakub Hanczewski

Simona

Do you know the law of action and reaction? There are politicians described in this article and on the other had there are politicians who say: “Please, come in all”. “You are wellcome”. “Nobody will be returned.”

Posted on 10/20/15 | 12:31 PM CET

Julius

It’s actually quite refreshing to hear these statements. At least there still are some politicians that represent their people instead of that un-elected and selfcongratulating EU bunch .

Posted on 10/20/15 | 3:42 PM CET

Tina

“Wacky” is one word for it. You might also call it fear-mongering. Racist. Xenophobic. Sexist. Or just simply, “hate speech.” One doesn’t have to look very far to see the sad results of people buying into this non-sense and concluding that refugees are such a threat that they need to burn down their homes, beat them up, or stab their advocates (see: Cologne.) This will be looked back upon as (another) extremely shameful episode in European history where people shut their doors against humanity and allowed themselves to be divided by fear and hate-filled rhetoric.

Posted on 10/20/15 | 3:58 PM CET

groundkeeperwillie

Promissing headline, but rather disappointing content. Actually I am finding none of these claims quite “wacky”. I must be “wacky” myself. Or perhaps Vince Chadwick is wacky when he finds these things wacky? What a conundrum…

Aphilic

Most of the comments state facts as they are, describing them as wacky makes me think the author is wacky…
Re intro: Muslims in Belgium and other countries have demanded a change of laws to comply with sharia
Re 3: I was told by a person who inspected a refugee camp of the severe problem with diarrhea, several rooms needed to be completely renovated, their occupants hospitalized.
Re 4 & 7: There was a report in todays newspaper that MD’s saw “diseases they haven’t encountered in decades”. This ranges from Tb and various parasites to typhoid fever and lepra.
The remarks on the difficulties with Muslims in Europe are based on experience. Algerians and Moroccans in France, Pakistanis in England or Turks and Lebanese in Germany could not be integrated into civilized society in more than 50 years, there is no doubt that it will not work with Syrians or any others.
Any sane Person finds the “welcome” signs wacky. Or the remarks of Gregor Gysi that all Germans Need to die so that there ar no more Nazis. Or the Croatian government that first ridiculed the Serbs and Hungarians before caving to the “swarm” and failing to do their duty.
Cameron, Duda and Orban do their duties for their own countries and peoples, Merkel and Hollande are traitors. We can only hope that these are removed from office before a civil war becomes inevitable or that those will Kkeep their countries strong enough to help us Europeans rebuild our civilization after the upheavel.

Posted on 10/20/15 | 6:25 PM CET

George

You cite even something that one politician denies he ever said that, with no proof he did. Sorry, bad journalism. The “wacky” comment about only those who behave well are welcome is really “wacky”? So you probably welcome even the stone throwers and those who force fellow refugees in camps with a different religion to follow their own religion? It is this unability to distinguish between well behaving good people in need and the aggressive croud with “claim mentality” that fuels FN or PEGIDA and their like, and it is your style of journalism that actually causes these parties to swell in polls. It is not “total welcomers of all” vs. “nazi”, this is artificial. Most people are in the middle and you do a bear service, sorry to be honest.

I have asked literally hundreds of liberals, left-liberals, and anti-racists to explain how the defence of a colonised people can be “racism” (never mind “wacky”). I observe the complete lack of a rational response (the most usual one is no answer at all), and I conclude for pathology on that factual basis. People who cannot explain why they express a violent revulsion of English ethnocentrism, for example, yet are driven to continue to do so even after it is pointed out, are expressing a politically-acquired pathology. Their behaviour is literally just a learned reflex of a pavlovian kind. Of principle, of interiority, there is no sign – and it is the same whether one is addressing a sociology professor or drop-out.

Posted on 10/20/15 | 9:50 PM CET

forsanity

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/fragmented-future/
“In the presence of [ethnic] diversity, we hunker down. We act like turtles. The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it’s not just that we don’t trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don’t trust people who do look like us.
—Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam”

Posted on 10/20/15 | 11:30 PM CET

agx

I’m afraid it will be a list of glory – of course if Europe survive.
And Angela Merkel should go under the care of psychiatrists.

Posted on 10/21/15 | 12:05 AM CET

agx

Reports from a recent days:
– tuberculosis in a refugee camp in Belgium
– epidemic of cholera in Iraq, the single of case in Greece
– typhus, dysentery and “God knows what” in Syria

Posted on 10/21/15 | 12:39 AM CET

notoftheleft

WTF?? These are not “wacky” comments- they’re perfectly sound. What’s wrong with you? You sick, sick, twisted individual! Are you after some kind of horrendous totalitarian state? Are you on some kind of guilt trip for being white? Not sure where you’re from, but Europe / the West IS a Judaeo- Christian society- you clearly just don’t like the fact, and are in denial.
This immigration situation is sick. Merkel should be hanged for treason, as should that slimey prick Cameron- for even daring to suggest that we should allow 75 million muslims into the EU. The EU should, of course, be disbanded, and a solid iron fence built around the entire continent, with gunboats patrolling the Med. End of story.

Posted on 10/21/15 | 1:41 AM CET

max

Hmmm.
They just exercise theirs democratic rights as freedom of speech..freedom to expressing own opinion.
I personally agree on most of theirs comments like fear of diseases of unknown origin.
Recently in Belgian refuge camp unknown type of tuberculosis was discovered..

Posted on 10/21/15 | 2:54 AM CET

max

re:nototheleft.
Very well sound judgment !
..”West IS a Judaeo- Christian society- you clearly just don’t like the fact, and are in denial.”;;
There is more to it.
Check where is coming from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFE0qAiofMQ
Regards Max

Posted on 10/21/15 | 3:06 AM CET

bricko

heh, Politico at its finest. All 10 items are legitimate concerns but seen as disaster to Politico’s wacko thinking. Best to burn down the refugee centers as is being done in Germany now. Same as will be done in the US if they bring them here to destroy our country from within.

Posted on 10/21/15 | 3:14 AM CET

Alessandro M

So, we are all expected to be absolutely radiant, overwhelmed with joy and even gratuful to receive swarms (sorry: wrong word) of immigrants from very different backgrounds and cultures (sorry: shouldn’t have said that), because not complying 100% with these guidelines makes you wacky, correct ?

Posted on 10/21/15 | 8:44 AM CET

Eva

I am sorry that a lot of these approaches come from the “new” EU countries, although some extreme examples from France, UK, Italy or Germany are also presented. On the other hand, I would be sincerely glad if Politico reported about all the Czech volunteers who help people on the EU borders to survive the upcoming autumn-winter days, about the Slovak president Kiska, who is one of the best examples of a politician with capital “P”, as well as other people or initiatives which attempt to improve the picture of the east EU as being hostile to the needs of humans who come to Europe in the time of need. There are many of them, example being e.g. http://www.deareurope.cz.

Posted on 10/21/15 | 11:37 AM CET

Jiri

An opinion poll carried out by CVVM between 7 and 14 September and published by idnes.cz on 7 October 2015 indicates that only 4 per cent of Czech nationals agree that immigrants should settle permanently in the Czech Republic! Immigrants from the Near East (frequently referred to as the Middle East) and the north of Africa are especially being denied the right to enter the Czech Republic at all (by 69 per cent of respondents). Why are politicians acting against the will of that vast majority of people?

Posted on 10/21/15 | 1:35 PM CET

jl

Massive migration is a mistake.
Forced redistribution is a crime.
Simple as that.

I like that: “We respect France. And if you don’t want to adapt, you can go.”
I’m french, I love french country

Posted on 10/21/15 | 3:33 PM CET

Hugh Mann

So how is any of this not true? Most are in fact economic migrants, they come from countries with poorer hygeine and medical care so yes they will bring disease, roughly 80% are able bodied men (not children like the media frames it) who SHOULD be fighting and working to rebuild their countries; they have no national pride, and that is what angers you, that some in the EU still have pride in their country. There are already Shiara law zones in the UK, do you want that in your backyard? And dont even give me the “population decline” explanation, even a dullard could explain that populations rise and fall and find equilibriums, and that bringing ME people will not increase the number of EU, only the number of ME. People are not profits, it does not always have to go up. And what about in 10-20 years when the muslim demo has become large enough to influence EU polotics? They dont care to fight for their countries, but damn if they arent fighting to get to the EU.

Thanks, migrants, for enriching moribund European culture with your quaint and delightful customs! No wonder Angela wants more of you.

Posted on 10/22/15 | 12:59 AM CET

Fixpir

“Only people who behave correctly are welcome.”

Yes, this is so absolutely wacky !
______________________________________________

“We’re a Judeo-Christian country of white race.”

That is a statistically correct assertion. Therefore it is absolutely wacky, obviously ! Reality is the real definition of wackiness in Newspeak.

______________________________________________

“We respect France. And if you don’t want to adapt, you can go.”

Looks like a very sensible comment. That is being said all over the world in countries, restaurants, shops. Basically, nobody’s forced to come to France.
Apparently, I have been told that people going to Saudi Arabia are invited to adapt to their laws concerning alcohol, non Muslim religions interdiction etc…
So it is extremely wacky, obviously again
__________________________________________

Maybe it’s time to read Orwell again.

Posted on 10/22/15 | 12:35 PM CET

Fixpir

@Tina
Last time I thought about trying to go to the USA or China or Saudi Arabia to get a job, it seems they consider their borders to be heavily regulated and I do not have any right to enter.
It seems Nigeria, Ivory COast, Algeria, Tunisia consider their borders to be regulated against immigration from poorest countries in Africa.
Apparently all the countries in the world are therefore racist and xenophobic.
Or may be Tina is just a fool, and all those countries are only reasonable.

Posted on 10/22/15 | 12:43 PM CET

Fixpir

Georgina Siklossy from the European Network Against Racism said such “toxic statements” fuel xenophobia and Islamophobia.

Can anybody explain to Mrs Siklossy and the self appointed “European Network against Racism” that the right to criticize religions is one of the cornerstones that allowed the rise of democracy in Europe ?

Posted on 10/22/15 | 12:47 PM CET

United States of Monsanto

If such thing as “justice” existed in this world (or throughout the entire history of modern europe) vast majority of these unfortunate refugees would sail the Atlantic and enter the land of opportunity, because however guilty EU is…. it’s the ol’USA who has its dirty little fingers in every war, coup, uprising or any kind of disturbance on this planet. What did Mrs.Clinton have to say about recent russian bombing of ISIS……..this action will not help…….oh name one, just one action pulled by the white house that actually helped!!???

Posted on 10/22/15 | 3:38 PM CET

Milton38

One can compare the sitaution with that of a large corporation.
They have a Board (Government), who take decisions knowing that they do not have to take the resposibility of handling the stuation. That is left to the floor managers (Mayors, local councils, provincial administrators).
Their objections are completely ignored just like the reservations of the workers (the voting cattle) is completely ignored.

And @Louis repeating the mantra that Europe needs a horde of unqualifiable people does not make it anymore true.

Posted on 10/22/15 | 7:55 PM CET

ema

Marta and rational people who still believe in nation-state, which is the fundemental value Europe has offer to the world, alongside liberalism and democracy. And now those who should stand up for their own countries – Merkel, Holande – are going directly against it. WHy?!